Anthobium cuccodoroi Shavrin & Smetana, 2018

Shavrin, Alexey V. & Smetana, Aleš, 2018, A revision of Eastern Palaearctic Anthobium Leach, 1819 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Omaliinae: Anthophagini). II. fusculum group, and two additional species of the nigrum group, Zootaxa 4508 (4), pp. 451-506 : 475-477

Anthobium cuccodoroi Shavrin & Smetana , sp.n.

( Figs. 46 , 64 , 66–67 )

Type material examined: Holotype ♂ [specimen dissected; right antennomeres 6–11 are glued on the side of beetle]: ‘ INDE Garhwal (UP[Uttar Pradesh]) | 4 km au Sud de [handwritten] | Bhatwari 1400 m [handwritten] | I. Löbl 23.[handwritten]X.[19]79’ <rectangular label, printed >, ‘ HOLOTYPE | Anthobium | cuccodoroi sp.n. | Shavrin A. & Smetana A. des. 2018’ <red rectangular label, printed> ( MHNG) .

Paratypes: 3 ♀♀: same data as the holotype , ‘ PARATYPE | Anthobium | cuccodoroi sp.n. | Shavrin A. & Smetana A. des. 2018’ <rectangular label, printed> (2 ♀♀: MHNG; 1 ♀: CS) .

Description. Measurements (n=4): HW: 0.63–0.67, HL: 0.43–0.49; AL(holotype): 0.95; OL: 0.17–0.20; PL: 0.55–0.61; PW: 0.92–1.02; ESL: 1.27–1.36; EW: 1.22–1.36; AW: 1.07–1.12; MTbL(holotype): 0.65, MTrL(holotype): 0.35 (MTrL 1–4: 0.22; MTrL 5: 0.13); AedL(holotype): 0.62; TL: 2.75(holotype)–3.48.

Body moderately elongate, subconvex. Body and antennomeres 5–11 yellow-brown; head reddish brown; mouthparts, antennomeres 1–4, basal, lateral and apical margins of pronotum, anteriolateral portions of elytra, legs, paratergites and apical segments of abdomen yellow. Middle part of vertex with smoothed transverse meshes, middle portion of head between middle impression with irregular transverse meshes, lateral portions of head with coarsely rugose sculpture, significantly stronger on median and posterior portions of infraorbital ridges, with moderately strong transverse wrinkles on posterior part; dorsal part of neck with large cellular microsculpture; medioapical part of pronotum with transverse moderately coarse microsculpture larger than that on middle part of head; basal portion of scutellum with fine wavy microreticulation; lateral portion of pronotum and elytra without microsculpture; abdominal tergites with fine isodiametric microsculpture. Frons and middle portion of head with sparse, moderately small and deep, irregular punctation, denser and larger on rugose surface of infraorbital ridges; middle part of neck with more or less regular, large and deep punctation; pronotum with dense irregular punctation, distinctly larger and deeper on lateral portions; visible part of scutellum with several large and deep punctures; punctation of elytra as that on pronotum, markedly denser on parascutellar area and larger on medioapical portion, each elytron near suture with four vague and tangled longitudinal rows of punctures, adjacent median punctures, separated by impunctated longitudinal surface, forming indistinct and tangled rows, becoming irregularly scattered laterally; abdominal tergites with indistinct small punctures. Habitus as in Fig. 46 .

Head 1.3–1.4 times as wide as long; vertex irregularly or evenly elevated, some specimens with middle transverse triangular impression between posterior margins of eyes (one paratype with well-developed triangular elevations behind impression); deep and moderately short grooves in front of ocelli reaching posterior margin of eye; postocular ridges moderately acute; anterior portion between antennal insertion and anterior margin of eye with small, superficial rounded notch. Ocelli very large and convex, situated at level of postocular ridge; distance between ocelli slightly longer than distance between ocellus and posterior margin of eye. Apical segment of maxillary palp two and half times as long as preceding segment, from markedly widened middle gradually narrowed to apex. Antenna slightly exceeding shoulders of elytra when reclined; length × width of antennomeres (holotype): 1: 0.13 × 0.06; 2: 0.10 × 0.04; 3: 0.11 × 0.04; 4–7: 0.08 × 0.04; 8: 0.07 × 0.05; 9: 0.06 × 0.06; 10: 0.05 × 0.06; 11: 0.11 × 0.06.

Pronotum 1.6 times as wide as long, 1.4–1.5 times as wide as head, widest about middle, markedly more narrowed posteriad than anteriad; apical margin distinctly narrower than posterior margin; anterior angles widely rounded, slightly protruded anteriad; posterior angles obtuse; lateral edges of pronotum with serrate, regular and small crenulation; pronotum with wide middle elevation, with irregular and indistinct longitudinal impression on anterior part, and with a pair of moderately deep and large oval impressions on mediobasal third and moderately deep irregular impressions of very deep lateral pits.

Elytra narrow, slightly widened apicad, reaching apical margin of abdominal tergite IV or V, as long as wide or slightly longer, more than twice as long as pronotum; each elytron with slightly elevated middle portions in basal part.

Male. First four protarsomeres slightly dilated. Apical margin of abdominal tergite VIII slightly, that of sternite VIII distinctly emarginated. Aedeagus ( Fig. 66 ) robust, with median lobe widened apicad toward wide, irregularly truncate apex; parameres robust, each widened around middle, significantly exceeding apex of median lobe, with two short apical and preapical setae; internal sac with elongate field of thorns, rolled in basal portion. Aedeagus laterally as in Fig. 67 .

Female. First four protarsomeres not dilated. Apical margin of abdominal tergite VIII and sternite VIII straigth to rounded.

Comprarative notes. Based on the general shape of pronotum and elytra, and on the presence of distinct transverse microsculpture on medioapical part of the pronotum, A. cuccodoroi Shavrin & Smetana , sp.n. is most similar to the western Palaearctic A. fusculum , from which it differs by the paler coloration of the slightly wider body with somewhat more transverse pronotum, by more elongate aedeagus with significantly longer, around middle widened parameres, and by the structure of the internal sac.

Distribution. The new species is at present known only from the type locality ( Fig. 64 ) in Uttarakhand, northern India.

Bionomics. All specimens were taken by sifting forest floor litter at elevation 1400 m a.s.l.

Etymology. Patronymic, the species is named to honour our colleague, Giulio Cuccodoro (Genève, Switzerland).

Figures

FIGURE 64. Distribution of Anthobium cavicrus (black circles), A. cuccodoroi (black square) and A. sociale (black triangles) in the Himalayan Region.

FIGURES 45–49. Habitus of Anthobium fusculum group: 45—A. confucii (paratype; CHINA: Hubei), 46—A. cuccodoroi (paratype), 47—A. denticulatum (paratype), 48—A. laozii (paratype; CHINA: Yunnan, Cangshan), 49—A. latissimum (holotype). Scale bar: 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 66–67. Aedeagus of Anthobium cuccodoroi (holotype): 66—parameral view, 67—lateral view. Scale bar: 0.1 mm.